With French as your native language, you have several sounds in American English that are difficult for you to pronounce. The following is a list of sounds that you may be having difficulty pronouncing.

Section 1: Sounds which may make the biggest difference in your accent: Mastering the following sounds may have the biggest impact on your spoken English skills.

1. The “r” sound is pronounced in the back of the throat or pronounced like “w”The French “r” is very different from the American English “r.” It is often formed with the back of the tongue pushing against the back of the throat like a guttural sound, as in the word "car." At the beginning and in the middle of words it may sometimes sound like “w”, making "red" sound like "wed" and "around" sound like "uh-wound."

This is probably the most frequently used sound in American English. It occurs as a consonant, a vowel, and is present in lots of consonant blends, so it may very well be the sound that affects your accent the most.

To form the American English “r” consonant sound:

Round your lips

You’ll automatically feel your lower jaw move slightly forward.

Curl the tip of your tongue up toward the roof of your mouth, but do not let it touch anything.

Things to watch for when pronouncing the “r” sound:

If you round your lips too much, raise the back of the tongue and lower the front of it, you will end up forming the “w” sound.

If you push the back of your tongue against the back of your throat and push your voice out, you will be making the guttural French “r” sound.

When the “r” sounds like “w”:The word “right" will sound like "white"The word "every" will sound like "ehv-wee"The word “rake” will sound like “wake”

When the "r" is pronounced in the back of the throat:The word "very" will sound something like "veRy"The word "car" will sound something like "caR"

The word "sister" will sound something like "sist-ER"

2. The voiced “th” is pronounced like “d” or “z”The “th” in American English belongs to what we call the “continuant sounds”, which means that it can be prolonged or continued.

If you are having difficulty pronouncing this sound, it is most likely due to one of the following reasons:

You may be pronouncing it like “d”, which means that you are keeping your tongue inside your mouth, holding your breath before you say it , and then stopping your voice after you say it, or

You may be keeping your tongue inside your mouth and pronouncing it like “z”. The “z” sound is a continuant sound, however it is formed differently than the American English “th.”

To form the voiced “th” sound:

Stick your tongue out of your mouth slightly

Let your upper front teeth rest lightly on your tongue

Push your voice out through the tiny space between your upper front teeth and tongue

Keep your tongue and teeth lightly touching while you are pushing out the sound. If you hold your breath or separate your tongue and teeth, you will not be pronouncing the “th” correctl

You should feel your tongue vibrate when you say this sound

When voiced “th” like “d”:The word “the” will sound like “duh.”The word “another” will sound like “uh-nuh-der”The word “breathe” will sound like “breed”

When voiced “th” like “z”:The word “the” will sound like “zuh”The word “another” will sound like “uh-nuh-zer”The word “breathe” will sound like “breeze”

3. The unvoiced “th” is often pronounced like “t” or “s”The voiced and unvoiced “th” sounds are formed in exactly the same way, except for voicing: the voiced “th” uses your voice, while the unvoiced “th” doesn’t.

Both the unvoiced “th” and “s” are members of the continuant sounds, which means they are prolonged or continued. The difference is that the “s” is formed inside your mouth, while the “th” is formed outside your mouth. The “t” sound, on the other hand is not a continuant sound, and belongs to the group of consonants called the “stop sounds” because you must hold your breath before you say it and then stop the air coming out of your mouth after you say it. To form the unvoiced “th” sound:

Stick your tongue out of your mouth slightly

Let your upper front teeth rest lightly on your tongue

Push air out through the tiny space between your upper front teeth and tongue

Keep your tongue and teeth lightly touching while you are pushing out the sound. If you hold your breath or separate your tongue and teeth, you will not be pronouncing the “th” correctly

You should not feel your tongue vibrate or hear your voice when you say this sound

When the unvoiced “th” sounds like “s”:The word “think” will sound like “sink”The word “something” will sound like “some-sing”The word “both” will sound like “bose”

When the unvoiced “th” sounds like “t”:The word “think” will sound like “tink”The word “something” will sound like “some-ting”The word “both” will sound like “boat”

4.The “z” is sometimes pronounced like “s”The “s” and “z” sounds belong to the same group of sounds called the “continuant sounds.” They are formed in exactly the same way, except for voicing: the “z” sound uses your voice, while the “s” sound doesn’t.

If you are having difficulty pronouncing the “z” sound, it is most likely because you are not using your voice when you should. To form the “z” sound:

Smile and keep your teeth close together

Place the tip and front of your tongue flat and very close to the roof of your mouth, just behind your upper front teeth

As you say the “z” sound, use your voice to make this sound like a buzzing sound

When “z” sounds like “s”:The word “busy” will sound like “bissy”The word “was” will sound like “wuss”The word “president” will sound like “press-ident”

5. The “sh” may be pronounced like “s”The “sh” belongs to the group of consonants called both members of what we call the “continuant sounds”. If you are having difficulty pronouncing the “sh” sound, you are most likely because

The “sh” and “s” belong to the same group of sounds, however, there are distinct differences between them:

For the “sh”, your tongue is tense and forms a groove by pressing the sides of your tongue against the upper side teeth, similar to the “ee” sound. For the “s” sound, on the other hand, your tongue is relaxed and flat near the roof of the mouth.

For the “sh” sound, your tongue is further back in your mouth than for the “s” sound.

For the “sh” sound, your lips must be in a circle. Your lips remain flat in a circle for “s.”

To form the “sh” sound:

Open your mouth slightly and round your lips

Raise your tongue and tense it while you press the sides against your upper side teeth. The middle part of your tongue goes down forming a groove.

The tip of your tongue should be very close to the roof of your mouth, just where the roof of your mouth begins to arch up. As you say “sh”, push air out through the front of your mouth and continue it.

When “sh” sounds like “s”:The word “ship” may sound like “sip”The word “bash” may sound like “bass”The word “cashing” will sound like “cassing”

6. The “ch” sound may sound like “ts”The “ch” sound is a member of what we call the “affricate sounds”, and is made up of two different sounds: the “t” and “sh” sounds. If you are having difficulty pronouncing the “ch” sound, it is most likely because you are pronouncing the “sh” like “s”. This will make "ch" sound like "ts."

As far as tongue position, the main difference between “s” and “sh” is that for “sh” sound you need to tense your tongue and press the sides of it against your upper side teeth, almost like you were going to say the “ee” sound. For “s” the tongue is relaxed and the front part is fairly flat near the roof of the mouth.

To form the “ch” sound:

Place the tip of your tongue up behind your upper front teeth just as you would for the “t” sound.

Make a circle with your lips

Tense your tongue and raise it high in your mouth.

Press the sides of your tongue against your upper side teeth.

With your tongue tip on the roof of your mouth, push air out in a little explosion. Make sure not to use your voice for this sound.

When “ch” sounds like “ts”:The word “chip” will sound like “tsip”The word “match” will sound like “mats”The word “pitch” will sound like “pits”

7.There may be times when the “sh” sound is pronounced like “ch” and the “ch” sound is pronounced like “sh”As a native French speaker, you may also be pronouncing the "sh" in words like "ch" and the "ch" in words like "sh."

As discussed earlier, the “sh” sound consonant sound and is a member of the “continuant sounds” which means that you can prolong it. The “ch” sound is a member of the “affricate sounds” and is actually made up of two different sounds: “t” and “sh.”

What you will want to remember here is that you will start the "ch" by holding your breath, but you will not hold your breath for "sh."

To form the “sh” sound:

Make a circle with your lips.

Keep your teeth slightly apart

Tense your tongue and raise it high in your mouth while pressing the sides against your upper side teeth just as you would for the “ee” sound

Raise the tip of your tongue so that it is very close to the roof of your mouth at the point where you feel the roof of your mouth arch up

Push air out of your mouth and continue it.

This is what we call the “quiet sound”

If “sh” is pronounced like “ch”:The word “ship” will sound like “chip”The word “shop” will sound like “chop”The word “mash” will sound like “match”

To form the “ch” sound:

Make a circle with your lips

Open your mouth slightly

Tense your tongue and raise it high in your mouth, pressing the sides of your tongue against your upper side teeth

Raise the tip of your tongue so that it touches the roof of your mouth just where the roof starts to arch up

Hold your breath

Push air out in a little explosion

If the “ch” is pronounced like “sh”:The word “chew” will sound like “shoe.”The word “watch” will sound like “wash”The word “batch” will sound like “bash”

8. The “h” sound is often omittedIt is common for the “h” sound in French to be omitted. This pronunciation is naturally carried over into American English. What this means for you is that instead of pronouncing the “h” at the beginning of a word, it sounds like the word starts with a vowel. The “h” sound also occurs in the middle of a word, and you may be omitting it in this position as well. This can have a significant effect on how well Americans understand your speech.

In American English we pronounce the “h” sound by just breathing out lightly. Although that is all there is to it, it can be very challenging to remember to push out the air for the “h” sound.

When the “h” is omitted:The word “hat” will like “at”The word “he” will sound like “ee”The word “have” will sound like “ave”

8. Words that start with a vowel may have an added "h" in front of them.It is common for native French speakers to add an "h" at the beginning of a word that starts with a vowel. For example, the word "apple", which starts with the vowel "ae", may sound more like "happle", with an added "h" before the beginning of the word.

If you can remember this rule about forming vowel sounds at the beginning of words, it may help you in eliminating this speech difference:

Every vowel in English begins by holding your breath. If a word begins with a vowel, you must hold your breath before you say the initial vowel sound. The result is that when you start your voice, you must force your vocal cords open, rather than starting with your breath.

If you breathe out before you say a vowel sound, you will be making the "h" sound, as the "h" sound is formed by just breathing out gently.

When "h" is added to a word that starts with a vowel:The word "and" will sound like "hand"The word "orange" will sound like "horange"The word "often" will sound like "hofften

9. The “ih” sound is often pronounced like “ee” and the “ee” sound is often pronounced like “ih”The “ih” and “ee” sounds belong to what we call the “front vowels” because they use the front part of the tongue to form them.

The main differences between the “ih” and “ee” sounds are as follows:

First, for "ih" the tongue stays relaxed, but for "ee" it is tense.

For "ih", relax your lips in a slight smile, but for "ee" make a wider smile.

Last, for "ih", your tongue should be about half way up inside your mouth, but for "ee" it is high in your mouth.

To form the “ih” sound:

Open your mouth so that your teeth are about an inch apart

Keep your lips are flat in a slight smile

Your tongue should be relaxed

Place your tongue about half way up inside your mouth

The tip of your tongue should be just behind your lower front teeth. You can actually place the tip of your tongue on the back of your bottom teeth.

As you say the “ih” sound, you will feel the front and middle of your tongue raise up slightly and then go back down.

10. The stressed “uh” sound is often pronounced like “oh”The stressed “uh” sound, as in the word “under”, belongs to what we call the “central vowels”, which means it uses the middle part of the tongue to form it. The "oh" sound belongs to the "back vowels", which means that it uses the back part of the tongue.

If you are having problems pronouncing the stressed “uh” sound, you are most likely rounding your lips too tightly and raising the back of your tongue too high.

To form the stressed “uh” sound:

Let your jaw drop open and keep your lips relaxed

Keep your tongue relaxed and about half way up inside your mouth. Try to avoid raising the back of your tongue in the back of your mouth.

When stressed “uh” sounds like “oh”:The word “under” will sound like “own-der”The word “cup” will sound like “cope”

11.The “oh” sound is sometimes pronounced like “aw” and the “aw” sound sometimes sounds like “oh”Many speakers of English as a second language have difficulty pronouncing the “aw” and “oh” sounds correctly in English. These sounds both belong to the same group of vowels called the “back vowels” because they use the back part of the tongue to form them, but they do have distinct differences.

The following are the main differences between “aw” and “oh”:

Your tongue and lips are relaxed for “aw” and tense for “oh”

Your lips should form an open circle, almost like an oval for “aw”, where it ends with a tight circle for “oh"

The back of the tongue should be slightly raised for “aw” and raised high in the back of the mouth for “oh”

To form the “oh” sound:

Place your lips in an open circle

Tense your tongue and raise the back of it high in the back of your mouth

The front part of your tongue should be low in the front of your mouth

Move your lips into a tight circle as you say the “oh” sound

Finish the “oh” almost like an “oo” sound

When “oh” sounds like “aw”:The word “open” will sound like “aw-pen”The word “notice” will sound like “naw-tiss”The word “won’t” will sound like “want”

To form the “aw” sound:

Place your lips in an open circle, so that it resembles an oval. This means that your mouth will be in more of an oval shape.

Raise the back of your tongue up slightly in your mouth, and keep the tip of your tongue down below your lower front teeth

When “aw” sounds like “oh":The word “often” will sound like “oh-fen”The word “cost” will sound like “coast”The word “bought” will sound like “boat”

12. The “ay” sound is often pronounced like “eh” and the “eh” sound is often pronounced like “ay”The “ay” and “eh” sounds both belong to the group of vowels called the “front vowels”, which means that they both use the front part of the tongue to form them.

If you can remember the following features of the “ay” and “eh” sounds, you will be able to distinguish between them and pronounce them more easily:1. Your mouth is open wide for “ay” and only slightly for “eh”2. When you say “ay”, the sound ends high in your mouth with “ee”, but it stays about half way up inside your mouth and relaxed for “eh” 3. Your tongue tip is pushed slightly more forward in your mouth than for the “eh” sound.

To form the “ay” sound:

Open your mouth wide

Place the tip of your tongue just behind your bottom front teeth.

Press the sides of your tongue against your upper front teeth

As you say the “ay” sound, close your mouth slightly and end with “ee”

When “ay” sounds like “eh”:The word “nature” will sound like “neh-cher”The word “name” will sound like “nehm”The word “raid” will sound like “red”

To form the “eh” sound:

Open your mouth so that your teeth are about one inch apart.

Make a slight smile and relax your lips and tongue

Raise your tongue about half way up inside your mouth.

Your tongue tip should rest just behind your lower front teeth.

When the “eh” is pronounced like “ay”:The word “med” will sound like “made”The word “pen” will sound like “pain”The word “measure” will sound like “may-zher”

13. The “t” sound sometimes is pronounced like “d”The “t” and “d” sounds both belong to the group of consonant sounds called the “stop sounds.” They are formed in exactly the same way, with the exception of voicing: the “d” sound uses your voice, while the “t” sound doesn’t.

If you are having difficulty pronouncing the American English “t” sound at the beginning and in the middle of words, it is most likely because you are using your voice when you shouldn’t.

To form the “t” sound:

Hold your breath

Place the tip of your tongue just behind your upper front teeth

Push air out in a little explosion. You will not use your voice when you say this sound.

When “t” sounds like “d”:The word “ten” will sound like “den”The word “time” will sound like “dime”The word “attend” will sound like “uh-dend”

14. The “p” sound is often pronounced like “b”The “p” and “b” sounds are members of what we call the “stop sounds” and are formed in exactly the same way, except for voicing: the “p” does not use your voice, while the “b” does. If you are having difficulty forming the “p” sound, you are using your voice when you shouldn’t.

To form the “p” sound:

Place your lips together and hold your breath.

Push air out of your mouth in a little explosion. You must hear a little puff of air when you say the “p” sound. If you don’t, then you are saying the “b” sound.

When the “p” sounds like “b”:The word “pat” will sound like “bat.”The word “pen” will sound like “ben.”The word “please” will sound like “blease”

Section 2: Other sounds to practice: The following sounds may be mispronounced, but will not have as significant an impact on your ability to be understood. These sounds include the following:

15. The “l” sound is pronounced with the tongue too far back in the mouthIf you are having difficulty pronouncing the “l” sound, it is most likely because you are placing the tip of your tongue too far back in your mouth. You may also be curling it back in your mouth.

To form the “l” sound:

Open your mouth keeping your lips relaxed

Flatten the tip of your tongue and place it directly in back of your upper front teeth.

Make sure the sides of your tongue are relaxed and not pressing up against your upper side teeth

As you say the “l” sound, release your tongue from the roof of your mouth gently.

When the "l" is distorted:The word "lake" will sound something like "Lake"The word "pillow" will sound something like "piLLow"

The word "ball" will sound something like "baLL"

16. The “dg” sound is pronounced like “zh"The American English “dg” sound belongs to what we refer to as the “affricate sounds” and is actually made up of two different sounds: the “d” and “zh”. If you are having difficulty pronouncing this sound, you are most likely only pronouncing the second half of the sound, which is “zh.” The “d” is being omitted.

To form the “dg” sound:

Place the tip of your tongue just behind your upper front teeth to form “d”

Round your lips

Hold your breath briefly and then push out the “dg” sound in a little explosion. The key here is beginning with “d” as this is the part of the sound that has been missing.

When “dg” sounds like “zh”:The word “project” will sound like “praw-zheckt”The word “bridge” will sound like “brih-zh”The word “jump” will sound like “zhump”

17. The “d” and “t” sounds at the ends of words may often omittedIf you are omitting the final “d” and “t” sounds in words, this could be affecting grammar for past tense, as well as pronunciation. Because these sounds both occur very frequently in American English, it is important to pronounce them correctly.

The “d” and “t” sounds are both members of what we call the “stop sounds”, which means that you must stop your air or voice after you say them. These sounds are formed in exactly the same way, with the exception of voicing: the “d” sound uses your voice, while the “t” sound doesn’t.

Although the “d” and “t” sounds are pronounced quietly at the ends of words, they cannot be omitted completely.

To form the “d” sound:

Place the tip of your tongue just behind your upper front teeth

Hold your breath

Push out the sound in a little explosion. You will hear your voice when you say the “d” sound. For the “d” sound, hold your breath briefly and then push your voice out in a little explosion.

When the final “d” is omitted:The word “bad” will sound like “bae”The word “said” will sound like “seh”The word “red” will sound lke “reh”

To form the “t” sound:

Hold your breath

Place the tip of your tongue just behind your upper front teeth

Push air out in a little explosion. You will not use your voice when you say this sound.

When the final “t” is omitted:The word “right” will sound like “rye”The word “bat” will sound like “bae”The word “pet” will sound like “peh”

18. The “short a” sound is pronounced like “ah”Most people who speak English as a second language learn British English first, and this may be part of the reason why you may be pronouncing the “short a” like “ah.” While this is different from the American English pronunciation, it should not make a negative impact on your spoken English.

The “ae” and “ah” sounds are actually very different in American English. The “ae” uses the front part of the tongue, as in the word “ask”, while the “ah” uses the back of the tongue, as in the word “father.” To form the “ae” sound:

Open your mouth wide

Place the tip of your tongue on top of or just behind your lower front teeth

Your tongue should be flat about half way up inside your mouth

With your tongue in place, pronounce the “ae” sound. If you lower the back of your tongue, you will form the “ah” sound.

When “ae” sounds like “ah”:The word “ask” will sound like “ahsk”The word “can’t will sound like “cahn’t” The word “last” will sound like “lahst”

19. Some final voiced consonants are pronounced without voice.Some consonants that are voiced, such as “v”, “b”, and “g” are sometimes pronounced without voice when they occur at the ends of words. What this means is that a different sound is actually pronounced.

For example:

Final “v” will sound like “f’, so that “stove” will sound like “stofe”

Final “b” will sound like “p”, so that “cab” will sound like “cap”

Final “g” will sound like “k”, so that “bag” will sound like “back”

Although these errors will be noticeable, most people will be able to understand what you mean when the words are used in sentences. If you say the words by themselves, there may be some confusion.

20. The final “k” sound is sometimes omittedSometimes when speaking, there may be times when you omit the “k” sound when it occurs at the end of a word. Although final consonant sounds in English tend to be pronounced softly so that words can connect more easily to each other, you will want to make sure that you do not omit this sound completely. Most of the time, this error will not significantly affect your spoken English.

To form the “k” sound:

Open your mouth

Push the back of your tongue against the back of your throat

Hold your breath

Push air out of your mouth in a little explosion

When final “k” is omitted:The word “kick” will sound like “kih”The word “back” will sound like “bae”The word “rock” will sound like “raw”

21.The “ng” sound often has an added “g” or “k” after itYou are most likely pronouncing the “ng” in the middle and at the ends of words with an extra “g” or “k” after it. This is the only change you will be making in this sound. In American English, we do not pronounce the “g”, even though it is one of the letters that you see for the “ng” sound. Pronouncing the extra “g” or “k” should not affect your ability to be understood by others.To form the “ng” sound:

Open your mouth and place the back of your tongue against the back of your throat.

As you say the sound, gently release your tongue without holding your breath. This is the key for this sound, as right now you are holding your breath and then forcing the “g” out when you say “ng” or an extra “k” when you say “ng.” These extra sounds are what we want to eliminate.

When “ng” has an added “g” after it:The word “singer” will sound like “sing-ger”The word “calling” will sound like “calling-g”The word “walking” will sound like “walking-g”When “ng” has an added “k” after itThe word “sing” will sound like “sink”The word “calling” will sound like “callingk”The word “thinking” will sound like “thinkingk”

22. The stressed and unstressed vowel “er” sounds are often distortedAs mentioned earlier, in American English, the “r” sound can be a consonant or a vowel. When it is a vowel, it is a syllable, so the stressed vowel “er” occurs as the stressed syllable of a word, such as in the word “bird”, while the unstressed vowel “er” occurs as an unstressed syllable of a word, such as in the word “father.”

For many native French speakers, the vowel “er” sounds may be distorted. Because it is natural for you to use the back of your tongue to form the “er” sound, you naturally may tend to form the American English “er” in a similar way. The back of the tongue may go up, instead of using the tip and middle of your tongue. This sound is very difficult for Americans to imitate.

Although the distorted “er” sound will sound different from the American English pronunciation, this error should not present a significant difficulty for you in terms of how well others understand your speech.

When the unstressed vowel "er" is distorted:The word "mother" may sound something like "mother-"ER"The word "actor" may sound something like "act-ER"The word "teacher" may sound something like "teach-ER"

23. The “s” sound may sometimes sound like “z” in the middle of wordsThe “s” and “z” sounds both belong to the group of consonant sounds called the “continuant sounds” because they can prolonged or continued. They are formed in exactly the same way, with the exception of voicing: the “s” sound does not use your voice, while the “z” does. If you are having difficulty pronouncing the “s’ sound, it is most likely because you are using your voice when you shouldn’t.

To form the “s” sound:

Smile and keep your teeth close together

Place the tip and front of your tongue flat and very close to the roof of your mouth, just behind your upper front teeth

As you say the “s” sound, push air out of your mouth, creating a hissing sound.

When “s” sounds like “z”:The word “disappear” will sound like “dizz-uh-peer”The word “isolation” will sound like “eye-zuh-lay-shin”The word “assist” will sound like “uh-zist”